"The old saying goes, you can have it fast and cheap, or cheap and good, or fast and good, but you can’t have all three."

Joel Barohn, a dietitian, chef and nutrition educator at BC Dairy Association has a different take on this. He thinks there’s a way to help those who are juggling busy schedules, household budgets and trouble with meal prep.

To help with these recommendations and more, he sat down with Hannah Rose of Camuson College for her podcast, Healthy Together. Joel truly makes food and nutrition fun with his call for us to get “messy in the kitchen.” In an easy and lighthearted conversation, Hannah and Joel discussed seriously delicious foods, batch cooking, and the benefits of meal prep.

An overarching theme throughout the interview was how we as individuals interpret our own level of wellness. To him, a key to wellness is having a healthy relationship with food.

"A key to wellness is having a healthy relationship with food."

“Often, individuals peek into their diet from a 4-inch perspective,” focusing on individual nutrients as opposed to overall eating patterns.

A more productive approach, according to Joel, is to take “a step back and self-assess one’s diet or physical activity from a 40,000 foot perspective.”

As an example, Joel suggested using resources from the Food Track series as a way to assess one’s overall diet, create a goal for improvement, and track progress. Other resources offered by BC Dairy Association for health professionals and teachers include a variety of workshops throughout British Columbia.